Mazar in Panitz-Cohen and Mazar (2009:17) suggest that Stratum S-4 on the mound may have "suffered from an earthquake." This interpretation is partly based on the discovery of two fully articulated human skeletons lying on their backs in domestic contexts, as if they had been intentionally buried. One of the individuals, estimated to be about 30 years old, was found with his head to the west. He may have been a soldier, as two bronze arrowheads and a bronze spearhead were found in the same room in Building SP where the skeleton was discovered. In addition to the skeletons, deposits of approximately 0.5 m of debris were uncovered in several rooms, alongside "only minor rebuilds and floor raisings associated with the intense domestic activity in this area" (Mazar in Panitz-Cohen and Mazar 2009:17). In Building SD, a valuable hoard was discovered that included a scarab, two gold earrings, a silver signet-ring, and silver wrapped in a linen cloth. Mazar in Panitz-Cohen and Mazar (2009:122–124) concluded that the room in which this hoard was found "appears to have been abandoned with its contents and then subjected to a short period of non-use, which entailed wall collapse, filling the space with almost 1 m of collapsed brick and other debris that separated this phase from the subsequent reuse of this room in Stratum S-3." However, Mazar in Panitz-Cohen and Mazar (2009:17) cautioned that "most of the floors of Stratum S-4 were found empty of finds in situ, with no actual evidence for an abrupt or violent end." Despite the damage that occurred at the end of S-4, "the city was soon rebuilt, as there was a great deal of architectural continuity between S-4 and S-3" (Mazar in Panitz-Cohen and Mazar 2009:102–103).

HU Stratum S-4, "equivalent to an intermediate phase between UME Levels VII and VI" or the "earliest phase of Level VI", appears to be fairly well-dated. Mazar in Panitz-Cohen and Mazar (2009:17) notes that "the dense stratigraphy and architectural changes in Strata S-5–S-3 can be dated to a rather short period of ca. 60–70 years, from the end of the 19th Dynasty (c. 1292–1189 BCE) until the end of the Egyptian presence in the town, ca. 1140/30 BCE." In Tables 1.2 and 4.1, Panitz-Cohen and Mazar (2009) date Stratum S-4 to Iron IA (1200-1150 BCE) and Late 20th Dynasty (c. 1189–1077 BCE). Although these ranges vary, it seems that they date the Stratum S-4 destruction to around 1190-1130 BCE with a broader possible range of 1200-1077 BCE.